NATO chief: Serbia decides on its alliances

NATO chief: Serbia decides on its alliances

BELGRADE -- Serbia is "a sovereign country that makes its own decisions on cooperation with other countries," NATO's secretary general has said.

Jens Stoltenberg said that the military alliance's cooperation with Serbia and other countries of the Western Balkans is "of great importance" and expressed "readiness for further development and improvement of such cooperation."

According to a statement from the Serbian parliament, he made the comments during the annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. The gathering was attended by a delegation of the Serbian parliament.

The head of Albania's delegation at the meeting wished to know about a recent joint military exercises staged by Serbia and Russia, and Stoltenberg was quoted as saying that "Serbia is a sovereign country that makes its own decisions on cooperation with other countries."

The annual session of the NATO PA was held from November 21-24 in The Hague.

The Serbian delegation included Dragan Šormaz, Branislav Blažić, Aleksandar Radojević, Dejan Radenković, and Dubravka Filipovski.